EDITORIAL: Ritter steps up leadership with key water bills

By Enterprise editorial staff

Published 1:00 am, Sunday, January 13, 2013

Hundreds of bills are filed in each session of the Legislature, and most of them never become law or are of little consequence if they do. Two bills proposed last week by state Rep. Allan Ritter of Nederland will likely be different.

Ritter's bills would allow a one-time transfer from the state's Rainy Day fund into a new account to help pay for water-related infrastructure. If House Bills 4 and 11 are adopted, it would mark the first time the state has funded its long-range water plan.

The $2 billion from the Rainy Day fund would become part of a revolving, low-interest loan program that would allow the state to lend money to cities for water-supply projects that mostly aren't happening otherwise.

These bills are clearly significant, and it's no coincidence that they were filed by Ritter. He is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, one of the most meaningful panels in the chamber. In recent years, Ritter has quietly developed the kind of influence in the Legislature for the region not seen since the heyday of state Rep. Mark Stiles and state Sen. Carl Parker in the 1980s and '90s.

Ritter took some criticism when he shifted to the Republican Party several years ago, but he wouldn't be chairman of Natural Resources if he hadn't. Republicans dominate the House and Senate, and it doesn't hurt the region to have someone like Ritter near the top of the organizational pyramid. If these bills become law, the future of the region's water supplies will be much safer, and a lot of the credit will go to Allan Ritter.